Services and applications

Google today announced a new feature for Android applications offered through the Google Play store. Available immediately for Android developers, in-app subscriptions will allow users to pay for monthly or annual subscriptions directly inside of apps. And as detailed by Google, the feature is set to auto-renew by default with transactions managed by the Google Play store.

In addition to adding a new level of convenience, the move opens the door to added revenue streams and even new types of content through Google Play. Looking forward, today's announcement could entice magazines and news journals to offer subscriptions to consumers … Read more

Hillcrest Labs isn't a household name, but if you have a Roku 2 streaming player (and really, you should) the company has entered your home.

Based in Rockville, Md., Hillcrest developed the motion-sensing technology used in Roku's remote. So when you're flipping through menus or playing Angry Birds, Hillcrest is behind how it all works. Its first product in the motion space was the Loop controller, which it showed at CES 2007. After that, the company went on to license its technology to Sony and LG, develop the Kylo browser, and sue Nintendo over the Wii controller.

For the next year, however, Hillcrest is thinking smaller. And by that I mean right down to the mobile level. Two weeks ago at CTIA in New Orleans, SVP Chad Lucien explained how the company is working to integrate motion control technology into cell phones and tablets. … Read more

Startup Sidecar wants to be the engine of change for smartphones.

The company, formerly known as SocialEyes, today launched its Sidecar mobile app, which has not one but two key features. First, the company says, it lets users share live video (or photos, contact information, and locations) while they talk. Second, it provides free VoIP calling in a variety of scenarios.

The goal is to bust the calling experience out of its limited, old-fashioned ways.

"Until now, voice calling has sat in a silo by itself. People who wanted to do more than talk had to toggle back and … Read more

NEW ORLEANS--After you've covered the big news and handled the new phones, it's always fun to walk the CTIA show floor and seek out the weird and wonderful. There's usually plenty of sights to behold, and you always can count on NTT DoCoMo to lead the way.

The Japanese carrier's booth this year was smaller than usual, and it lacked a collection of high-end "only in Japan" phones, but it showcased some pretty cool technologies that I haven't used before. Some were practical and another was just for fun, but they provided a … Read more

NEW ORLEANS--After introducing its CUE touch-screen instrument panel at CTIA last October, Cadillac has returned to the 2012 wireless trade show with more services.

When CUE is introduced in the 2013 Cadillac XTS next month, buyers will be able to test the system on a new iPad app. According to Cadillac, the app will replicate many of the system's features and make them available anywhere.

XTS buyers in the United States will receive a new iPad loaded with not only the CUE app, but also the MyCadillac App and OnStar RemoteLink. And to help drivers get started, Cadillac dealers … Read more

On a sultry New Orleans afternoon today, AT&T took over a century-old Garden District mansion to open the 2012 CTIA. Yes, the annual wireless confab doesn't formally open until tomorrow morning, but the news already is coming fast and furious. And though I don't arrive in the Big Easy until tomorrow either, a big CNET team is on the ground by the Mississippi. Here are the highlights of what they saw today. … Read more

Color, the flexible startup from Bill Nguyen, formerly of Apple and the startup Lala, is taking yet another stab at the live video-sharing market, this time with help from Verizon.

The company's updated Color app will use the carrier's high-speed network to dramatically improve the quality of the videos it takes and will be preinstalled on some Verizon phones.

It looks like a good deal for Color, which has been struggling to get the features mix and social play right. The first version, which gave users a way to see photos coming in from people in the same … Read more

In the middle of its Samsung Galaxy S III press conference today, Samsung gave more details about its developing media services. Though we've known about the company's Video Hub and Music Hubs since the reveal of the Galaxy Tab 2 last February, the Galaxy S III adds a new Scan and Match feature designed to compete with iTunes Match. … Read more

Eight years ago, a friend and I were researching a book we would later call "Inescapable Data - Harnessing the Power of Convergence." We were after an understanding of what kinds of new information one could produce by blending data of different types and from different sources -- GPS data, combined with RFID, combined with data from a shipping manifest could be used to track shipments in real time for example.

In the process of doing our research, we interviewed many CEOs, CIOs, and others in leadership positions to see if they were aware of the new variety … Read more